This invention relates generally to surface drains of the type used to remove accumulated or flowing water from roadways, parking lots, playing fields, runways or the like, and more particularly to surface drains often referred to as slotted drains, where an elongated drain extends from the surface to underground drainpipes, the drain mating with or received by an elongated longitudinal slot disposed in the upper portion of the drainpipe. More particularly, the invention relates to such drains where the height and/or slope of the drain can be varied or adjusted to account for the depth and/or the slope of the drainpipe relative to the surface.
It is well known to provide extensive underground conduit systems for the removal of large quantities of surface water resulting from rain or other events. Such systems are typically necessary where the natural ground surface has been altered by building, paving or the like, such that rainwater cannot be absorbed directly into the ground. A common example of such a system is a storm sewer disposed in conjunction with a roadway or parking lot. Relatively large underground conduits of concrete or plastic are interconnected to form a pathway for removal of the water. Surface mounted drains or curb inlets, often covered with grates, are positioned at intervals and connected in communicating manner to the drainpipes. One particular type of storm drain structure is known as a slotted drain. In this structure or assembly, the drain member is a generally elongated rectangular member that extends from the ground or road surface downward to the drainpipe, the drainpipe being provided with an elongated longitudinal slot to receive the slotted drain. The drain is comprised of a pair of elongated opposing side walls and two short ends walls. A plurality of spacer members or cross braces are disposed between the side walls to provide structural integrity in a manner that does not impede to any great degree water flow through the drain. The space members may be positioned so as to self-define a grate along the upper surface of the drain, or a separate surface grate member, slotted or apertured to allow passage of water while allowing the surface grate member to be walked or driven upon, is provided.
Examples of such drain systems can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,911 to Rossberg, U.K. Published Patent Appl. No. 2,263,522 to Vitkovitch, U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,179 to Kerkhoff, U.S. Patent Appl. Publication No. 2005/0100412 to Houck, U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,266 to Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,121 to Schluter, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,857.
A problem associated with such systems results from the fact that the drainpipes are positioned in the ground so as to have a slight slope or incline to facilitate water flow, abut usually the slope of the ground surface does not correspond to the slope of the drainpipes. For example, over a length of ten feet the drainpipe may have a slope of three to four inches. If the ground surface is level or has a different slope than the drainpipe, the top of the drain will not correspond to the ground surface. The patents referenced above to Miller and Schluter attempt to address this problem by providing a means to adjust the slope or angle of the drain upper surface relative to the slope of the drainpipe. In Miller it is suggested to solvent weld strips of plastic to the inside of the assembly, while in Schluter the drain comprises an upper drain body and a lower drain body, one being received by the other in a telescoping or secured by bearing plates. These solutions require time and labor intensive assembly of components, and any load bearing characteristics are adversely affected by these assemblies.
It is an object of this invention to address the problem of non-parallel ground surface and drainpipe slopes by providing a modular assembly whereby components of proper configuration are chosen to address the slope inequities, the components being easily and quickly assembled without the need for time and labor intensive bonding and adjusting steps. The components are constructed so as to interlock or mate in a manner that does not adversely affect the load bearing characteristics of the assembly. The joining or mating means for the various components are uniform, such that components are generally interchangeable.